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- Thread starter wadc45
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Not playing tonight. They said he's away from the team due to personal matters. Hope it's not "portal" personal matters.
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
Going back to Bestbuck's post on Dec 17 (#171), am still wondering if Meechie has 'officially' hung up his sneakers. Haven't heard if he's transferred mid-season (is possible?), or just got a big personal matter. Not prying, but certainly wondering. Or if he's even in school. Don't recollect if he got his degree at South Carolina, and was enrolled in grad school at tOSU, or making up some credits to get a sheepskin. Anyway, at this point, believe he's been backfilled in the line-up, so just idle curiosity. Go Bucks!
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It is beginning to look very much like Ohio State took a chance on him and was let down. Very disappointing.
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DZ83CK
Not Banned
I believe you can play in 10 games and not have it count towards your eligibility for the year. I'm not saying that I know anything, but the timing of when he stepped away indicates to me that he may want to play another year of college basketball somewhere to maximize his NIL since he won't be getting NBA money. Like I said, I don't really know anything, maybe he is done playing and just wants to be enrolled for NIL reasons, but I suspect he may want to at least try and apply for 1 more year in college.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Columbus Dispatch
In his first public comments since leaving the team, Johnson told The Dispatch that his departure after 10 games was the result of a number of off-the-court issues affecting him to a point where he needed to stop playing basketball.
“I was just going through a lot mentally,” Johnson said. “Mental health is serious. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was something that definitely was affecting me. It was my life. There was a lot going on, and basketball being something that you use to be an outlet, I just didn’t feel like myself mentally.
“I just had to focus on my mental health. That was that.”
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continued
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As his absence persisted, Diebler said he remained in contact with Johnson and expressed his support for the guard while asking for respect for what Johnson was working through.
“Meechie and I are in contact regularly,” Diebler said Jan. 20, one day before the Buckeyes won at No. 11 Purdue. “Right now we’re just supporting him the best we can as he works through these personal things. As of today, we don’t have a timetable or clear indication of what’s next. It’s just really been a day-to-day thing, but he and I have been in continued communication.”
While Johnson Jr. has been publicly quiet throughout the situation, he said he wishes more could have been said at the time about what he was going through. He spoke with reporters after a Nov. 22 win against Campbell in what were his final public comments of the season.
“Nothing that coach Diebler or any of the coaches or anybody in the program did wrong,” he said. “Everybody was super, super supportive through this time. The university’s obviously been great to me and I was thankful to have them on my side and supporting me. I would never want people to think that I just quit on the program.
“All I’d say is this: If it was up to me, something would’ve been said about what I was going through.”
Although away from the team, Johnson remained enrolled at Ohio State and was one of five men’s basketball players to earn Winter 2025 Ohio State Academic All-Big Ten honors while pursuing a sports industry degree.
By stepping away from the team after 10 games, Johnson Jr. falls under the threshold for eligibility to apply for a mental health hardship waiver that could allow him to play another season of college basketball. Johnson said the decision to leave the team when he did had nothing to do with the number of games played.
“That had nothing to do with it,” he said. “It was me talking to my therapist and doctors and family. I wasn’t getting sleep. I was going through a lot. Doctors were like, take a step back for a second and prioritize the right things that matter.”
That led to his departure turning into a season-ending one.
“My therapist, if you talked to her, I was disappointed in a lot of things, not from an Ohio State standpoint but just within myself in how a lot of things went and how I wasn’t able to be there on the court with my team,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of things: ‘Oh, he quit.’ Nah, that’s just not what happened at all.”
Just sayin': I'm now guessing that if he gets through his "mental health issues" and still wants to continue playing basketball (at least for 1 more season) he'll stay at Ohio State. If he doesn't want to and/or isn't able to play basketball; he'll still stay at Ohio State to graduate.
Meechie Johnson Jr. breaks silence on why he stepped away from Ohio State midseason
- Meechie Johnson Jr. transferred to Ohio State for the 2024-25 season and was ticketed for a significant role in the rotation.
- After 10 games, Johnson stepped away from the Buckeyes for what was described as a "leave of absence from the team for personal reasons."
- In his first public comments since stepping away, Johnson explains why he stepped away from the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In his first public comments since leaving the team, Johnson told The Dispatch that his departure after 10 games was the result of a number of off-the-court issues affecting him to a point where he needed to stop playing basketball.
“I was just going through a lot mentally,” Johnson said. “Mental health is serious. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was something that definitely was affecting me. It was my life. There was a lot going on, and basketball being something that you use to be an outlet, I just didn’t feel like myself mentally.
“I just had to focus on my mental health. That was that.”
.
.
continued
.
.
As his absence persisted, Diebler said he remained in contact with Johnson and expressed his support for the guard while asking for respect for what Johnson was working through.
“Meechie and I are in contact regularly,” Diebler said Jan. 20, one day before the Buckeyes won at No. 11 Purdue. “Right now we’re just supporting him the best we can as he works through these personal things. As of today, we don’t have a timetable or clear indication of what’s next. It’s just really been a day-to-day thing, but he and I have been in continued communication.”
While Johnson Jr. has been publicly quiet throughout the situation, he said he wishes more could have been said at the time about what he was going through. He spoke with reporters after a Nov. 22 win against Campbell in what were his final public comments of the season.
“Nothing that coach Diebler or any of the coaches or anybody in the program did wrong,” he said. “Everybody was super, super supportive through this time. The university’s obviously been great to me and I was thankful to have them on my side and supporting me. I would never want people to think that I just quit on the program.
“All I’d say is this: If it was up to me, something would’ve been said about what I was going through.”
Although away from the team, Johnson remained enrolled at Ohio State and was one of five men’s basketball players to earn Winter 2025 Ohio State Academic All-Big Ten honors while pursuing a sports industry degree.
By stepping away from the team after 10 games, Johnson Jr. falls under the threshold for eligibility to apply for a mental health hardship waiver that could allow him to play another season of college basketball. Johnson said the decision to leave the team when he did had nothing to do with the number of games played.
“That had nothing to do with it,” he said. “It was me talking to my therapist and doctors and family. I wasn’t getting sleep. I was going through a lot. Doctors were like, take a step back for a second and prioritize the right things that matter.”
That led to his departure turning into a season-ending one.
“My therapist, if you talked to her, I was disappointed in a lot of things, not from an Ohio State standpoint but just within myself in how a lot of things went and how I wasn’t able to be there on the court with my team,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of things: ‘Oh, he quit.’ Nah, that’s just not what happened at all.”
Just sayin': I'm now guessing that if he gets through his "mental health issues" and still wants to continue playing basketball (at least for 1 more season) he'll stay at Ohio State. If he doesn't want to and/or isn't able to play basketball; he'll still stay at Ohio State to graduate.
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Glad he is getting help. I'm actually surprised it wasn't mentioned earlier with the type of support players have gotten from OSU before. I feel like fans also would have been in his corner as well even though nobody needed to know details.
Hope he gets it all sorted. I know from experience how hard it is to keep dark thoughts away when they come.
Hope he gets it all sorted. I know from experience how hard it is to keep dark thoughts away when they come.
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In the portal.
www.elevenwarriors.com
Guard Meechie Johnson Jr. Enters Transfer Portal After 10-Game Stint With Ohio State in 2024-25
Meechie Johnson Jr. has entered the transfer portal after missing the final 22 games of Ohio State's season.
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
Didn't know what was up, but reading this, am incredibly proud of The Ohio State University. In a profession where once you've used up your eligibility, you are kicked to the curb, what tOSU did/has done/will continue to do, is (to me at least) incredible. We, the fanatics, never see the kind of support these kids get. Certainly we sometimes see the NIL numbers, but not the classroom support, and certainly not the support that kids like Meechie need. Or others, probably too numerous to mention. This goes way beyond 'homesickness' but are real things. To me, kinda like the HR person talking about the great retirement offered by their company, when you're interviewing for your first job.
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